We continue to be very fortunate with our weather this cruise. Though the winds from the south did pick up this afternoon, we continued to have a comfortable ride on a sunny but chilly day. I hope our crossings back and forth to New Zealand are half so nice.
Probably because the ship was stable, I slept and slept last night, and didn’t awake until after 7am. G was already out and about, but I caught up with him in the the Horizon Court Buffet. Our standard meeting place is a table right above our cabin, and, sure enough, that’s where I found him, talking with a couple from Hong Kong. We lingered over breakfast (All Bran, fruit and soy milk) and returned to the cabin and had just enough time to sort through paperwork in preparation from this cruise in preparation for the onslaught of new paperwork we’ll receive on turnaround day tomorrow. I had to leave then for Thias’ meditation session (continuing to love these, though too often they conflict with the Destination Expert’s lectures). Once I was nice and relaxed, I went to the fitness center to work out for an hour or so. ;-)
It was time to eat again, so we went to the Donatello Dining Room for lunch where I had a wonderful vegetarian curry. G ordered Brunswick Chicken, which was served as a soup/stew with butter beans and corn, but that was pretty much as far as the resemblance to Virginia’s Brunswick Stew (aka Chicken Muddle) got. And my man knows his muddle (it was the first recipe I learned from his mother). We rushed from there to Wendy Fuller’s lecture on Sydney (not too many people at that, since so many know the city well) and then back to the Piazza for the Egg Drop Contest, which is always great fun.
We had a little rest then. I have a book that is gong to poof off my iPad tomorrow and wanted to get through that. I need to have time and internet speed to replenish my Overdrive books; the loan period for most of them has just expired or will soon. I don’t know when that’s going to happen though. We have plans for tomorrow, weather permitting, in Sydney, and the whole ‘can’t get off and back on the ship’ rule definitely cramps our style. That means that, if I want to find a coffee shop and download books or movies, I have to walk off the ship with my iPad and walk around with it during any sightseeing we do first.
I met Pat for coffee in the International Café (we sat in Vines, because, natch, there were no seats available anywhere else) and bid her farewell. While we were there, this cruise’s Princess Pop Choir, comprised of interested passengers, performed, and, for a cruise with only two sea days to practice, they were quite good.
Then it was time for dinner (a seafood starter and grilled vegetable dinner salad) and we are currently sitting in the Princess Theater awaiting the 7:45pm performance of Canadian comedian Simon Cotter. His first show, earlier in the cruise, was very good. In fact, we have enjoyed nearly all of the guest entertainers on both cruises.
Today on Deck 5 in the Piazza, there were 10-12 large placards set up on easels that covered the history of Australia and they were fascinating. I think the National Museum of Australia developed them, but the Princess logo also appeared on them. We took the time throughout the day to read every word on them. If they were there last cruise, we missed them, probably because our dining room was on Deck 6 then.
We have already received our in transit letters outlining what is required from us tomorrow in terms of checking off the ship and the immigration requirements. Weather dependent, we have plans to leave the ship fairly early to go exploring, and hope, at some time, to find some high speed WiFi near the ship. Cruise #2 is in the bag, and we have a warm weather cruise to look forward to coming up next. We are feeling so comfortable on the Golden Princess, with its super friendly crew and excellent food and great entertainment. If I have any concerns at all, it’s that it’s going by too quickly. When a vacation is this good, I want time to creep along.
Life is good. :-)